Tag archives for stainless steel

I hope you are enjoying this series of Renovation stories. Because something VERY special could be happening tomorrow on the home front, I have opted to share this Monday post one day in advance. While the landscapers are getting started working on the outside of the property. I would like to show you the Kitchen transformation from the inspiration to how it looks now.

I knew that for this house I wanted an open Scandinavian modern type of feeling. I felt that a future dweller might enjoy white cabinets, open shelving and warm wood countertops that accented the floors. I loved the kitchens by other designers below.

You may remember how the kitchen looked before drywall. I also wanted to preserve historic touches, where I could.

One thing that spurred me on from the kitchen before, was the overcrowding. There were just so many cabinets yet, all in good condition made from solid pecan wood. I liked the idea of reusing the cabinets and reconfiguring them in a better way. For this, I would need our carpenter to really help us make that work.

None of the countertops that could be salvaged because they were all mismatched pieces of stone, marble and plywood simply sitting on the cabinets unattached, in fact some of the cabinets were not attached to the walls!

The warm wood tops were a natural choice because of their color and affordability. The flooring is an engineered wood with a wide plank and a hand-scraped texture. I liked how the golden tones of the countertops matched the lighter gold streaks in the floors. You will see in a moment how well they match in the space. The floors actually look much lighter in daylight.

Below you can see a quick sketch by hand, where I rearranged about half of the existing cabinets to be installed by my carpenter.

I found many inspiration photos that I liked which mixed stainless steel appliances set against the white cabinets and warm wood. Since stainless appliances were more costly, we had considered simply sticking with an all white palette. To our fortune, we stumbled upon an appliance sale over Labor Day weekend, which allowed us to afford all stainless for the much the same cost. Cha-ching!

We used a farmhouse pendant as a focal point in the center of the room along with natural light and recessed lighting as a part of the total lighting solution.

The kitchen’s overall size has increased exponentially and we created cleaner, straighter lines when we moved the original bathroom to create the L-shaped kitchen.

Below is the first shot of the kitchen showing things really shaping up! Now it’s time to show off the final photos of the kitchen! I had asked my friend, Kristin Goose to take the final pro photos. She has a really good eye and I think that the final photos came out great!

At right, you will see the original transom window above the doorway, that we reinstated as you walk through to the den/dining space.

There is ample space to place a kitchen island or a dining table. I pictured a large driftwood finish farmhouse dining table with modern chairs in this space!

I have always wanted to have a Farmhouse sink! I guess I will have to live vicariously through this property for now.

One solution that we had to lighten up the upper shelving was to use glass and open shelving. To create this look we cut open the cabinet doors and inserted plexiglas panels. Then, our carpenter John, worked on the custom open shelving adding white shelf supports for installation.

After waiting so long to be able to share these, I hope you are enjoying these final pics. The kitchen was a labor of love. (I am still toying with the idea of a tile backsplash behind the sink at some point. I would love to hear your thoughts on the transformation:)

Next week, I hope to share a little surprise with you and with a little luck the bathroom renovation photos which are in the editing stage.